X Factor musical ‘I Can’t Sing!’ set to hit West End theatre next year

A new spoof X Factor musical called ‘I Can’t Sing!’ is set to open in the West End next year.

According to The Guardian, the show, created by Harry Hill, will run at the London Palladium and is said to feature “a singing hunchback, a talking dog and a man in an iron lung,” as well as an explanation behind the height at which Simon Cowell wears his trousers.

It also boasts 19 original songs written by Steve Brown, who has previously worked on Spitting Image and Hill’s TV Burp, and is being co-produced by Simon Cowell’s company Syco Entertainment. Hill has put together a book for the musical and contributed lyrics while Sean Foley, who is about to make his debut at the Royal Shakespeare Company, will direct the show. No details of the cast have been announced as yet.

It was previously reported that the musical would be titled ‘X Factor: It’s Time To Face The Musical’ but in a joint statement Hill and Brown said: “We’d been umm-ing and ahh-ing about the title for a while. Then it hit us: ‘I Can’t Sing!’ It also happens to be the title of one of the funniest songs in the show and we hope hints at the direction we’re taking this production.”

The pair also stated Cowell is “backing it 4,500 per cent”, and has described it as “one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen”. The music mogul features as a character in the show, along with Louis Walsh and caricatures of other judges to have held court on the TV show.

‘I Can’t Sing!’ will spend a month in previews before it officially opens on March 26, 2014.